Gas or vapor electric lamp.



P. O. HEWITT. GAS 0R VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMP. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20,1905.

939,912, Patented Nov. 9 W09 3 BHBETB-BHEET l.

WITNESSES: IN MENTOR 5Y ATTORNEY f I M 4:42:47...

P. U. HEWITT.

3A3 OB VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMP.

nPucA'uoN FILED JUNE 20, 100:1.

939,912, Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

BSHITFTH-SHEBT 5!.

I. U. HEWITT.

GAS OR VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMP.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 29,1905.

939,912. Patented Nov. 9. 1909.

BBHIJETSBHEET 3.

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VENTQ P 4 1,

UNiTED STATEE lligENT OFFICE.

PETER COOPER HEWITT, 0! NEW YORK, N. Y., LSSIGHOB TO COOPER HEWITT ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y-, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GAS 0B VAPOR ELECTRIC LAMP.

939,912. Original application fled April 9,

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

Serial lie. 287,820.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Pn'rnn Coornn Hen:- rrr, a citizen of the United States and res!- deut of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas or Vapor Electric Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to starting devices for gas or vapor electric apparatus and for convenience the description an drawings will be made to ap ly to gas or vapor lamps, although it will a understood that the same principles may be a plied to gas or vapor electric apparatus emp oyed for any purpose whatsoever.

ttill further for convenience, the invention will be described as a plied to a U- shaped lamp, although the 5 pc of the apparatus need not be confined to those illustrated and described.

In general the invention belongs to that class of vapor electric devices wherein a current may be initially passed through the apparatus by way of a continuous con uctor, without regard to the vapor column through which the current is ultimately to pass. This has already been accomplished by providinp, a path of mercury from one electrode to the other inside the apparatus and, after the current is established through such path, the up aratus has been tilted so as to interrupt t e mercury path and cause a flow of current through the vapor, such tlow of current being rendered easily possible by reason of the fact; that the negative electrode resistance is locally broken down inside the apparatus, after which the flow of current easily takes place to the negative electrode without the application of any abnormal potential to the terminals In the present instance, the conducting path consists )artly of mercury or other conducting llui and partly of a resistance conductor. The resistance conductor is introduced between the terminals of two liquid columns. the said cohnnns and tho resistance forn'iinp: a continuous conducting path from one electrode to the other. Indeed, the all-called liquid columns may extend a very short distance from the olcctl'mlcs, i nly just far enough so that. a rupture can be made inside the uppurutus between the terminals of the resistance conductor and the liquid at the electrodes. The rupture of this conducting path takes place when the apparatus is tilted so as tomermit the mercury or other conductmg liquid to flow away from the terminals of the resistance conductors where they enter the apparatus. It is found that the current, on the rupture of the original circuit as described, will find its way through the mercury vapor and establish a flow of current through the apparatus. This can all be accomplished upon a voltage similar to that whic i is employed in the actual operation of the apparatus, without the application of any abnormal initial voltage for starting it.

The tilting of the apparatus may be accomplished by automatic means or manually as preferred, or as circumstances may dictatc.

Looked at from another int of view, the resistance conductor descri ed above may be regarded as a shunt-circuit for the orimnal vapor resistance between the ends oi the mercu columns or between the electrodes themse v This vs 101 resistance, as is well-known, is initially very high at the negative side of the circuit, and requires to be broken down before current will pass through the vapor. Such breakin down occurs when the rupture takes pace between the resistance on the negative side and the mercury column on the same side. The resistance being once broken down the tendency for the current. to flow through the vapor path is at. once made operative and as the mercury column recedes romthe terminnls of the resistance conductor, the How continues through the entire vapor path between the electrodes.

My invention will he understood by refcrcncc to the accompanying drawings. in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mercury vapor lamp in the position which it occupies before starting; Fig. 2 is an end view of the same looking toward the right of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the lump in its iosition of o ration; and Figs. 4, 5. and I llll'lflilntl nm ilications.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is n U-slmpcd tube containing columns of mercury, :3 and :l. 'llicso ci'lhunns of mercury in the inurtivc pos'll ion of the lump oxlrud from lead wires, 4 and h, rns a-cln'oly, \\lll4ll extend into the respective electrode pockets, 6 and 7, to lead-wires, 8 and 9, extending into pockets, 10 and 11, near the yoke end of the tube 1. At this end, the tube is bent upward as shown at 12, so that the mercury does not pass over the bend, but terminates in the ockets 10 and 11. Between the lead-wires and 9 is mounted a resistance, 13, which in the position illustrated in Figs, 1 and 2, constitutes a conducting continuation of the meteor columns 2 and 3.

The cad-wires 4 and 5 are suitably connected with the poles of an electric source, and when the circuit of the said source is closed, a complete circuit is made through the apparatus, say from the lead'wire 4 to the mercury column 2, the lead-wire 8, the resistance 13, the lead-wire 9, the mercury column 3, and the lead-wire 5. 0

The apparatus maybe provided with trunnions, 14 and 15, on which it can be turned from a substantially horizontal position to an inclined or vertical position, and a sprin or weight may be provided tending to hol it in the position selected for operation.

The circuit havingbeenesta blished through the apparatus by way of the path already descrl ed, the apparatus can now be tilted on its trunnions, say, into the position illustrated in Fig. 3, whereby it will happen that a rupture will be made between the mercury columns 2 and 3 and the leadwires 8 and 9, respectively. The flow of current will now pass tbro h the entire va or column including the end 12, from t e elec trode in the pocket 6 to the electrode in the socket 7, or vice versa, as the case may be epending upon which is the positive and which is the ac tive electrode, so that the entire vapor co umn will be traversed by current and will become luminous in the case of a lam or will as current for other purposes in the case 0 a vapor converter. I generally provide supplemental pockets, 16 and 17, near the lower end of the apparatus to receive the excess of mercury which might otherwise be present at the positive and negative electrodes in the operative position of the lamp. The lead-wires 8 and 9 also terminate 1n pockets, as already described.

With the arrangement described, one of the electrodes may be of solid material and the other of volatilizablo material, in which case the solid electrode would be so arranged as to project beyond the mercury in one or the ot icr of the pockets 6 and T.

Fig. 4 shows a partial view of a modified form of apparatus, the especial feature being that of providing a longer vapor path between the ends of the mercury columns 2 and ll. The bond 12 is here prolonged in the general direction of the logs of the U-shnpml tube, whereby the vapor column is lengthened as statml. Instead of forming two liquid columns extendi from the electrodes, one terminal of tie resistance condoctor may be connected directly with one of the electrodes and the rupture of the circu it may take place between the other termmal of the resistance conductor and a column extending from the o positc electrode.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the yofie end of the U- shaped tube is twisted in the manner indi cated in the drawing so that the legs of the U return upon themselves, thereby cansmg the bend to occupy a higher position when the up aratus is horizontal than the rest of the tu and limiting the distance to which the columns 2 and 3 extend in a direction away from the electrodes.

The resistance 13 is connected as before between the remote ends of the mercury columns, and the action is generally the same as that already described. In this figure are shown a ring 18 and a weight 1 9, tending to hold t e lamp 1 in the positlon selected for operation, namcl with the left hand end above horizontal to return the mercury to the proper electrodes or reoe tacles.

In al the illustrated forms of the apparatus, it will be seen that an initial ath from electrode to electrode is rovidcd through a resistance conductor. T e resistance is here shown as mainly exterior to the container, but it may obviously be carried across the bend inside the container, if pro ferred. Owinp to the presence of this initial .path for t is current, the negative electrode resistance which is usually present in apparatus of this class is broken down as soon as the current is turned on in the circuit including the apparatus.

In another application Serial Number 202,286, filed April 9, 1904, of which this application is a division, claims are mado upon the apparatus described herein.

I claim as my invention:

The method of securing a closed metallic circuit between electrodes of a vapor electric apparatus, for the purpose of starting. which consists in connecting the electrodesby passing the starting current between the electrodes within the container for a portion of the way adjacent. to the electrodes, and for the remainder of the way more rcumhfrom the electrodes passing the current outside of the container.

Signed at New York. in the county of New York, and State of New York. lhis 26th day of June A. l). 1905.

Witnesses:

7M. ll. CAI'I'ZL. (,lnonou ll. S'mmuuumm. 

